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Beginner's Questions?

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Hi all! Since I first saw pictures of an arowana a few years ago, I've always wanted one. Unfortunately, I live in a very small house with no room for a big tank. But I'm most likely moving this year, so I'll have enough space to fit a tank more than two feet long
Currently I can't afford to buy a new tank (Busy with my studies :P), but I'm probably going to tone those down a bit so I can find a good job and start making some extra cash.When that happens, I will be able to afford one, along with a nice new fish!

Since silver arowana are illegal here, I've crossed that off the list. Asians aren't illegal, but they're expensive and hard to find. I could get a native one, but I'm not a big fan of aggressive fish and, honestly, I find blacks to be much more appealing.
So I'm looking at getting a black arowana. Now, I realize these need big tanks, so I've been doing some research and planning out what I want. The current specifications I'm looking at are 8-10ft L x 4ft W x 3ft H, which equals a minimum capacity of roughly 2700L (Sorry, I'm not sure what that is in gallons :/)
I presume that's enough room for a black for the first few years, if I got it at 5-10 inches. Do you think I could just leave it at that, or should I go even larger?
Since I don't really think they make tanks that size, I'm going to either a. make it myself with some help from my tradesman family, or b. have it custom made. I'll just see what's cheapest and go from there.
(Also, I've heard arowana need to be kept in tanks with fairly thick glass? Would 15mm be okay?)

Big, carnivorous fish like arowana eat a lot, right? And produce a lot of waste? Meaning I'm going to need a lot of filtration. Should I attempt to build a sump, or invest in a multiple high-power canister filters?
Speaking of food, I'd be able to supply the arowana with store-bought fish pieces and live crickets/mealworms, maybe with the occasional live fish? (Bred by myself, of course. I'm too scared to use feeder fish from my LFS)

That's all I can think of for now. If anyone has experience or advice, that'd be great! I'll do some more research in the meantime and see what I can find.
Thank you, and sorry for rambling!

Thanks everyone! I've just been researching plywood tanks, and I think that's the best way to go. I'll look into making a custom sump a bit later.
As soon as I've got some free time, I'll be sure to start working on a small-scale plywood tank as a test. If that goes well, I can start making the plans for the real tank :D